Who is Daniel Perry, the man pardoned by Greg Abbott? What was he in prison for?

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a pardon for Army sergeant Daniel Perry on Thursday. Perry was found guilty of murder for fatally shooting Garrett Foster during an Austin Black Lives Matter protest in July 2020. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison last year.

The day after Perry was convicted by a jury in Travis County, Governor Abbot asked the Board of Pardons and Paroles to consider his case. A unanimous recommendation was returned today to give Perry a full pardon. The move has been condemned by the victim’s father and the Travis County District Attorney José Garza who said it has “made a mockery of our legal system.”

Who is Daniel Perry, the man pardoned by Greg Abbott?

At the time of the incident, Perry was driving an Uber in downtown Austin, about 70 miles from where he was based in Fort Hood. The Texas Tribune reports that according to police reports he came across a Black Lives Matter protest a few blocks from the Capitol building.

He stopped his car and honked at the protesters before driving his car into the crowd. Foster, an Air Force veteran who was 28 years old, was taking part in the protest and carrying an AK-47 rifle, legally. At trial conflicting stories of what conspired were presented.

Perry said that Foster pointed his gun at him while he was stopped at the intersection, so he shot him in self-defense. Perry was also legally carrying his handgun, and Governor Abbott has argued that he was protected under the state’s “Stand Your Ground” law.

However, witnesses testified to the contrary that Foster did not raise his gun prior to being shot. During the trial prosecutors pointed to Perry’s use of violent rhetoric online toward the protests taking place after George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer and protestors as a potential motivation.

In one message revealed in unsealed court documents, Perry said “I might go to Dallas to shoot looters.” His Army colleagues defended his character testifying that he treated everyone fairly no matter their race. Both Perry and Foster are white. His lawyers argued that his rhetoric was just “barracks humor.”